Preparing yourself
After your car has been prepared you need to prepare yourself. Let others know of your trip, especially those at your destination, with estimated arrival time and planned route. Getting stranded in winter can be life threatening, so equip your vehicle with an emergency kit that could save your life. Drivers in remote areas are especially at risk, and are generally well aware of the importance of such kits, however the winter of 2010-2011 in Chicago provided a shocking reminder of the force of winter and the inability of humans to cope. The blizzard that hit the city on February 1, 2011 closed down Lake Shore Drive, one of the busiest roads in the nation. Cars with drivers inside were stranded in deep snow for as long as ten hours, only hundreds of yards from safety, in clear view of the downtown skyscrapers. With conditions outside making escaping on foot treacherous, some motorists began to wonder if they would make it out alive, and many undoubtedly wished they had packed an emergency survival kit.

Here are some of the items to include in your kit: blankets and extra warm clothing and even a sleeping bag; heavy boots; sturdy hat and gloves; high-energy food such as chocolate or energy bars, nuts and raisins; jumper cables; a tow rope; an ice scraper for the windshield; a small snow shovel; cat litter or sand for traction; bottled water kept in the warmest place to avoid freezing; flares or brightly colored cloth to attract attention; small candles and matches to provide basic heat in extreme circumstances and a whistle. A flashlight is essential but expired batteries can be a problem. Bring spare batteries or consider buying a combined flashlight, radio and cell phone charger unit, which is powered by cranking a handle.

Driving in winter
Driving on ice or on snow can be terrifying. Don’t make it worse with bad driving habits. First, remove any excess snow from the hood, roof and trunk. Once you are back in the vehicle always buckle your seat belt: it’s usually the law anyway but bad conditions underscore the importance. Adjust your speed to the conditions and give the car ahead of you extra space. Understand that bridges and overpasses will typically freeze before other parts of the roadway as they are surrounded by cold air. Braking on ice or snow is not the same as braking on a dry road in the summer. As a general rule brake early and gently, and don’t pump the brakes if you have antilock brakes: the system will take care of it. Keep your lights on so you can see and be seen in poor visibility. Drop into a lower gear if appropriate, and watch out for snow ploughs: give them extra room when coming towards you and don’t try to pass them as you may get blasted by the ploughed snow.

The importance of Insurance
Accidents are more likely when conditions are bad, so it is critical you have in place at least the mandated level of insurance required by state law. Not only will the insurance help provide financial protection, it is often the first thing police officers ask you for when they arrive at the scene of a crash. Not having insurance can make a bad day a lot worse, as you are could be faced with felony charges and eventually an SR-22 requirement.

Cynthia Garcia, marketing Director of Active Insurance Agency, which arranges thousands of auto policies for Illinois drivers, comments: “We generally see more car accidents during the winter months and a regrettably high number involve uninsured drivers. Being in an accident without carrying basic insurance can ruin the holiday season and could start off the New Year under a significant financial burden.”

 What is Uninsured motorist and Underinsured motorist coverage?

 UM stands for uninsured motorist and UIM stands for underinsured motorist.  If you have an accident with someone who is uninsured or underinsured and is ultimately at fault for injury or damage caused to you or your passengers, UM and UIM will provide coverage . UM / UIM is included in your auto insurance policy in Illinois and Wisconsin and is optional in some states including Indiana. 

 In virtually every state, automobile liability insurance is required by state law. This means every driver must buy an insurance policy which protects them in case they are found liable for causing injury to another person, or damaging another person’s property while operating their automobile. However, there are fairly low minimum amounts of insurance required in most states. In Illinois, for example, the state-required, or mandated insurance liability limits are $20,000 per person, $40,000 per accident, $15,000 property damage and $20,000 per person, $40,000 per accident uninsured and underinsured motorist liability.  A serious auto accident could end up costing far more than that. So if you or your passengers are injured by a reckless driver, even if that driver has insurance for the legal minimum, it might not be enough to fully compensate you for your injuries.

 Uninsured motorist property damage (UMPD)

 Uninsured motorist property damage is a very inexpensive option for drivers who don’t have collision coverage and are concerned about damages to their vehicle if an uninsured motorist were to hit their car. One catch is that hit and run accidents are usually not covered because you must be able to identify the uninsured motorist and many times they leave the scene of the accident because they know they will be fined and possibly arrested for driving without insurance. 

 (Let Active Insurance help you find low-cost auto insurance now)

 How does Uninsured motorist and Underinsured motorist coverage work?

Let’s say a reckless driver runs a red light and hits your car: it’s a total loss and you are injured. You go to exchange each other’s insurance details and it quickly turns out that the driver has none. At this stage the police will likely have their own issues, including dangerous driving and not having insurance, but how about your problems? If you have Collision coverage then your insurance company should cover the cost of the car based on its current value, but even Collision won’t pay damages for the injuries and pain and suffering you believe you are owed.

Uninsured motorist and Underinsured motorist coverage will also cover you if you are hit by a car while you are crossing the street or while riding your bicycle. 

UM/UIM

 At this point an odd thing happens: you can make a UM / UIM claim on your own insurance policy for those damages which rightly should have been paid by the other driver’s own insurance policy —if he had bought one. Suddenly, your insurance company now acts like the other driver’s insurance company: you are claiming pain and suffering, and it is your own insurance company you are claiming it from because the other driver was an Uninsured Motorist.  Even if the other driver did have the Illinois minimum auto limits of $20,000 per person, $40,000 per accident but this is not enough to fully cover your injuries you may still make a claim because those limits are insufficient to address your needs; in other words the driver was an Under-Insured Motorist.

An Imperfect Solution for an Imperfect World.

In a perfect world, everyone buys enough auto insurance, and so once fault is determined the insurer of the at-fault person would pay up. However the real world is very different and UM / UIM coverage exists to help paper over imperfections. It is unfortunate that part of the UM / UIM claim process may result in transforming your insurer from advocate to opponent, but that should not deter consumers from buying the coverage and then pursuing a claim if it is warranted —even though it is against their own insurance company.

 Cynthia Garcia, marketing Director of Active Insurance Agency which arranges thousands of auto policies for Illinois drivers says. “It’s a regrettable fact of life that too many drivers in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin do not buy mandatory auto insurance. This exposes law-abiding drivers to having no recourse for compensation for loss suffered from an accident with an uninsured driver. Uninsured motorist and Underinsured motorist coverage and uninsured motorist property damage is a cheap way to provide just such a source.”            

About Active Insurance:
Active Insurance Agency has provided low cost auto insurance for drivers in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin for nearly 50 years. Its online car insurance quotes make comparing automobile insurance rates quick and easy. Best of all, no credit score or driver’s license number is needed to get a quote. Active Insurance also won’t ask for your Social Security number, so you can keep your confidential and personal information private. If you need a bond card, Active Insurance Agency has those too.

Protecting Your Vehicle

Lock the Doors
Many cars lock the doors automatically when you drive off – but a lot do not. Unlocked car doors surrender a basic defense against the especially frightening crime of carjacking: villains who force you to leave your car and then drive it away. In addition to locking the doors you should look for an escape route if you see suspicious characters lurking. When stopped in traffic, leave enough room from the car in front so you can see their rear whole tires. This will usually give you enough space to drive out from the line of traffic in an emergency. This tip is worth following everywhere but particularly in known risky neighborhoods.

A Rear Ending or a Criminal Ploy?
One tactic used by criminals is to intentionally rear-end a vehicle at low speed. On being rear-ended most people’s first impulse is to jump out and confront the driver who hit you – but it could be a ruse to get you out of your car. Having left the protection of your locked vehicle you are at the mercy of the crooks who then drive your car away. If you are rear-ended try to resist the urge to jump out: quickly check the rear-view mirror to assess the occupants of the car behind; you should have already evaluated the relative safety of the neighborhood. If in doubt stay in the car and call the police or drive away; any damage to your car from such a planned rear-ending will probably be minimal.

Prudent Parking
Criminals love darkness and desolation. When parking your vehicle avoid dark and lonely places. A solitary car parked in a quiet side street with no houses nearby can be irresistible to a criminal who can get to work with little chance of interruption. The target can be the car itself or what is in it. Far better to pay any parking fee in a lot or on the main road than try save a few dollars while putting your car in jeopardy.

Anti-Theft Devices
Devices which lock on your steering wheel can be a helpful deterrent against car theft, especially for an older vehicle which might not have some of the more recent protections such as computerized ignition keys. These devices can be awkward but are worth considering, especially if your driving patterns regularly take you to areas of higher crime.

How Attractive is Your Car?
Statistics are widely available on those cars most likely to be stolen. If you own one of these higher-risk vehicles then your precautions against theft should be even stronger. Find out if your car is one which tends to attract thieves, and act accordingly.

Keep Focused When in the Car
Using cell phones and other communication devices when driving can distract you not just from driving but from monitoring your surroundings for crime. Before you know it you could have entered an area where your exposure to crime has increased, but you are talking on your phone and remain unaware. In addition you need to be off the phone to call for help.

Protecting Things in Your Vehicle
Many thieves are content to steal from your car rather than take away your car. Here, a few basic rules apply. These rules may seem simple enough but are not always followed.

Keep it Hidden
Thieves will generally steal what they can see, so concealing potentially attractive possessions goes a long way to reducing this risk. If you must leave such items in the car, put them in the trunk or cover them up. Many thieves are opportunistic, meaning they don’t plan crimes in advance, but if they see something worth stealing they will act, and act quickly. Few thieves will waste precious time breaking into a car where they can see nothing to take, hoping that something is there. The list of attractive items is long and not always obvious: if in doubt, hide it or take it with you.

 (Let Active Insurance help you find low-cost auto insurance now)

Take the Purse off the Seat
Men typically carry their money and credit cards on them; most women use a purse, and when they get into their cars the purse usually gets placed on the passenger seat. This presents an obvious target. The best place for a purse is in the trunk (keep the cell phone with you). Locking the car doors is fine but a determined thief will smash the window while the car is stopped in traffic, open the door and grab the purse. Not only are thieves adept at this, the surprise will probably delay your reactions for an extra few seconds, allowing the thief time to complete the crime and escape.

High-end Audio Systems
Most car makers offer higher-end audio systems than the one which comes with the vehicle. If it was appealing to you then it will be appealing to a thief. It’s a lot harder to than it used to be to steal these systems from a car, but you don’t want a thief to ruin your dashboard while trying. How badly you want that expensive system.

Insurance Can Help
Having appropriate comprehensive insurance in place will help limit the financial impact for victims of auto-related crimes. At Active Insurance, a Chicago-based agency specializing in low-cost auto insurance in Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana, Marketing Director Cynthia Garcia comments:

“In today’s economy the risk of being a victim of auto-related crime may be higher than ever. Comprehensive auto insurance helps compensate you for theft of your car and items from your car. Unlike liability insurance it is not mandatory, but for many drivers it can be a desirable and valuable coverage to have.”

Having your car broken into is more likely than having your home broken into, yet people continually fail to take the simplest precautions to help avoid this fate. You have to be lucky every time you get into your car; a criminal only has to be lucky once.

Cars are big-ticket items, and there are many ways for fraudsters to bilk unsuspecting victims. The rise of Internet commerce has vastly expanded the ways to separate a mark from his money, and has effectively made Internet fraud a global business.

Consumer complaints rose 25 percent in 2010 and a complaint is filed every 90 minutes, according to a Consumer Reports article citing FBI stats. Regarding auto-related complaints, every hour a car buyer loses more than $1,000.

The online car sales company Cars.com employs a fraud team to help weed out the most fraudulent ads on its website.

“The number one piece of advice we can give for buyers and sellers is to listen to that inner voice that says, ‘This is too good to be true,’” advises the site’s spokesperson, Ron Hall, “because we’ve found that it always, always is.”

While it may seem like a no-brainer, never purchase a car or send money for a vehicle without seeing it first. “You’d be surprised at how many people do that,” he says.

The Cars.com fraud team put together this list of the most common scams in auto sales.

Keep in mind the schemes and tactics that follow are not mutually exclusive — some scammers take pages from numerous playbooks.

Check Scam
Scams involving checks (i.e. personal, cashier’s, third-party checks, money order) take many forms. In a typical example, a thief posing as a car buyer “accidentally” sends a check made out for an amount higher than the selling price of the vehicle and requests that the seller deposit the check and return the difference via a wiring service (Money Gram, Western Union, etc.). After the seller has wired the money, he or she learns the buyer’s check is worthless, and the thief disappears with the seller’s money.

The Snopes page dedicated to check scams (including the famous strain originating from Nigeria) recommends waiting three weeks for any sizable check to fully clear. Even if it looks like the funds are available in the bank account before that time, checks could still turn out to be counterfeit.

Sympathy Scam
Preying on the sympathy of a mark is one of the oldest tricks in the book. In a common auto scam, a thief posing as a seller supplies a sad story to a potential buyer about why he or she needs to sell the car quickly (he or she is about to be deployed on active military duty or is dealing with a divorce, illness, the death of a loved one, etc.). The sob story explains why the car’s asking price is so much lower than its current market value, and puts pressure on the buyer to make a quick decision. Buyers who fall victim to this scheme can end up with a lemon, or with no car at all.

Shipping Scam
In the shipping scam, a thief posing as a seller requests a deposit on a vehicle and promises to ship the vehicle to the potential buyer for personal inspection within a set number of business days. Typically thieves will tell prospective buyers a third-party shipping company will be in contact with the buyer to ship the car after the deposit is sent via wire service. Scammers often use forged or copied websites to appear legitimate. An investigation by the BBC revealed criminal gangs are often the perpetrators of shipping scams and other types of auto fraud.

Purchase Protection Plan Scam
In this scheme, the con artist pushes a protection plan for the transaction. The potential buyer is encouraged to send a deposit for the full purchase price of the vehicle. The protection plan states that if the buyer does not receive the vehicle, he or she will be reimbursed for the total amount of the transaction invoiced. Common tools for this scam are fake websites that mimic real websites customers are comfortable with such as EBay, Edmunds, Google Checkout, Cars.com and NADA Guides.

Photo Scam
The photo scam happens when a vehicle is listed online, with the text giving a normal market rate of, say, $13,000, while the photo accompanying the ad shows a price written on it of $4,000. The thief tells the potential buyer the price of the vehicle is $4,000, saying it was reduced for some reason designed to elicit sympathy (e.g., a recent layoff or death in the family). The victim pays the reduced rate thinking it’s a bargain, but then never receives the vehicle.

Location Scam
Another shady practice in car sales occurs when a potential buyer finds an ad for a vehicle that is for sale locally. After contact is made, the scammer tells the buyer the car is located someplace other than where it was advertised, but it can be shipped anywhere in the world…for a fee, of course. The victim pays the money but never receives the car, and the thief gets away with the “fee.”

Sight Unseen Scam
With this maneuver, fraudulent sellers make up a story about why they aren’t able to physically show the vehicle due to unforeseen circumstances (e.g., they’re traveling for work, or they’re away on active military duty, etc.). The sellers request that payment be sent in full and advises that the title will be sent when the vehicle is shipped. Now is a good time to reiterate the advice of the experts at Cars.com: Never purchase a car or send money for a vehicle without seeing it first.

Also, keep in mind that even though a vehicle may look OK, the background check should go further. Have a licensed mechanic check the car for damage or defects, and to ensure it’s not a flooded car.

Wire Service Scam
Wire services such as Western Union and Money Gram are a favorite with scammers because financial transactions can be conducted anonymously and the recipient doesn’t have to offer proof of any service rendered or goods exchanged in order to collect the cash. A wire service scam in auto sales involves a potential buyer receiving an invoice stating that wire services can be used to complete transactions online. The buyer is advised this is the common payment method used by the site. If the supposed car seller doesn’t recommend using a legitimate escrow service, such as Escrow.com, to complete the transaction, it’s probably best to carry on the car search elsewhere.

Phone Scam
In an auto sales phone scam, the thief provides a contact phone number for potential buyers to use to inquire about the vehicle for sale. With Cars.com, for example, a field for a phone number must be completed, so scammers might enter a fax line, or a number they’ve just made up. Then the potential buyer is forced to email, and the fraudulent seller will inform the buyer that they prefer to do business over email anyway, and the scam proceeds from there.

New Crosswalk Law
Up until May 2010 Illinois traffic law required “slowing down or stopping if need be” to yield the right of way to pedestrians crossing the roadway. However in May 2010 that law was changed —and tightened— to require drivers to come to a complete stop before yielding. The problem is that few drivers appear to know the law has changed, and what was meant to increase protection for pedestrians may actually put them in greater danger.

Simply put, if a pedestrian believes oncoming traffic will obey the new law and come to a halt when the pedestrian is on the crosswalk, he may be in for a rude awakening, or worse. For that and other reasons the new law was opposed by state Senator Bill Duffy, saying it may create false expectations for pedestrians. Even if a motorist correctly obeys the law and stops for a pedestrian on the crosswalk, there remains a chance that a car following will not be anticipating the rapid stop, and a rear-end collision could take place.

Despite reservations such as these, the measure gained support inside and outside the state legislature and was signed into law by Governor Quinn.
Reinforces Need to Buy Insurance

“The requirement for motorists to stop for pedestrians on crosswalks is yet one more reason why Illinois drivers must have in place the mandatory liability insurance” says Cynthia Garcia, Marketing Director for Active, Insurance a Chicago -based insurance agency specializing in low cost insurance for Illinois drivers. “The tragedy of hitting a pedestrian on a crosswalk will be magnified if the driver has no insurance” adds Ms. Garcia.

Proceed with Care
With education and increased awareness the new crosswalk law should eventually result in a safer crosswalk environment for pedestrians. Illinois drivers must become familiar with the requirements and follow them when they drive. However until the changes achieve widespread recognition and understanding, pedestrians are well-advised to exercise extreme caution when entering crosswalks, and not to expect that every oncoming vehicle will stop and yield as it should.

Active Insurance Agency has provided low-cost auto insurance for drivers in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin for nearly 50 years. Its online car insurance quotes make comparing automobile insurance rates quick and easy. Best of all, no credit score or driver’s license number is needed to get a quote. Active Insurance also won’t ask for your Social Security number, so you can keep your confidential and personal information private. If you need a bond card, Active

 1932 Ford hot rod – quite possibly the original hot rod.

1936-1937 Cord 810/812  The front-wheel-drive design with independent suspension makes the car sit lower than its contemporaries and the optional supercharger gave the Cord 812 plenty of power.

1955-1962 MGA  Described as an eccentric car because of the absence of external door handles and a not-quite-watertight cabin.

1962-1968 Shelby Cobra  - A lightweight British roadster fitted with a powerful American V-8.

1963-1965 Aston Martin DB5. One of the Bond cars, need we say more?

1968-1982 Chevy Corvette.  This most recent model years bare no resemblance to the distinctive styling of  the vintage years.

1970-1971 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda Convertible : These million-dollar muscle cars are among the rarest artifacts of Detroit’s glory days, with only a handful of the legendary 426-cubic-inch Hemi engines installed in convertibles

1981-1982 DeLorean DMC-12

Few sports cars are as immediately recognizable .

 1984-1996 Ferrari Testarossa

This car looks fast standing still.

1992-1998 McLaren F1

Until the Bugatti Veyron came along in 2005, McLaren’s revolutionary, 231-mph F1 had enjoyed a long reign as the world’s fastest production car, and it seats three.

Traffic Stop

Every “traffic stop” is a little different, but in Illinois they almost all have at least two things in common. One, the police officer will ask you for your driving license, and two the officer will ask you for proof of Illinois vehicle insurance.

Hopefully you will have proof of current insurance because auto insurance in Illinois is mandatory, meaning it’s required by law. But what happens to your driving license after the officer has finished running the details through his computer?

Unless the officer decides to let you off with a warning, you will be given a ticket which describes the traffic law violation you are alleged to have made. The ticket will usually indicate your options, which —depending on the alleged violation— are generally to pay any fine (which may include taking driver education or improvement classes) or dispute the ticket in traffic court. Note that some violations require a court appearance.

Driving license confiscated
Regardless of your future options, it is almost certain that the officer will keep your driving license. Why? Because only by paying any fine or showing up in court will you get your license back. Taking away your license essentially helps guarantee you will co-operate with the process of law enforcement.

But giving up your driving license can be at best very inconvenient and at worst a serious obstacle to conducting your affairs: access to many buildings, using credit cards and commercial air travel may depend on being able to show the valid proof of identity which a driving license can provide.

The Bond Card alternative
Happily, for most minor traffic violations there is an alternative. Instead of taking your driving license the officer will generally accept a current Bond Card. This card, issued by a bond surety company, will provide a financial guarantee for any fines you may owe, and penalties from failing to appear in court. You can therefore surrender the Bond Card instead of your driving license, which you will usually then be allowed to keep.

A word of caution: a Bond Card is not insurance. Even though the surety company has guaranteed payment up to a certain limit, you are still required drive a vehicle with no less than the mandatory insurance limits.

Buying Bond Cards
Where can you get a Bond Card? They are available from insurance agents such as Active Insurance Agency, an agent specializing in helping drivers obtain cheap Illinois auto insurance and also cheap Wisconsin and Indiana auto insurance. The cost is only $20 a card and the card will usually cover up to $160 for a single violation and up to $500 for multiple violations in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.

Cynthia Garcia, Marketing Director for Active Insurance Agency says that every driver in Illinois should carry a valid Bond Card: “Seeing how inexpensive they are and how valuable they can be when you are stopped by the police they should be in everyone’s glove compartment along with the proof of insurance,” says Cynthia. “When the police pull you over they don’t care how rich you are, they will still take away your driving license unless you have a Bond Card to give to them.” Cynthia added, “Buying Bond Cards from Active Insurance has never been easier. You can order them over the phone at 888-My-agent or on-line through the Active Insurance Agency web site. With well over two million traffic stops a year, Illinois drivers need to be prepared.”

About Active Insurance:
Active Insurance Agency has provided low-cost auto insurance for drivers in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin for nearly 50 years. Its online car insurance quotes make comparing automobile insurance rates quick and easy. Best of all, no credit score or driver’s license number is needed to get a quote. Active Insurance also won’t ask for your Social Security number, so you can keep your confidential and personal information private. If you need a bond card, Active Insurance Agency has those too.

“As the price of the fuel goes up, so does the portion of the sales tax,” said Eric Noggle, senior revenue analyst for the state Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, in a story by the Gatehouse News Service.

Illinois is among a small number of states that charge a motor-fuel sales tax. Others include California, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Michigan and New York.

The state government in Illinois gets 5 percent in sales tax, with local governments getting 1.25 percent. Some municipalities add more sales tax on fuel, from 0.25 percent in some small areas to 3.5 percent in Chicago.

The commission that Noggle works for recently compiled a report on fuel taxes at the request of the General Assembly. He called the sales tax in Illinois a “tax on a tax” because it also applies to the 18.4 cents-per-gallon federal tax on fuel.

Here’s the breakdown of Illinois taxes on gasoline per gallon, after the 18.4 cents per gallon that the federal government charges:

• 6.25 percent sales tax (5 percent goes to the state, 1.25 percent to local governments).
• 19 cent tax on motor fuel.
• 3 cents for an underground storage tank fund.
• 8 cents for an environmental impact fee.
• The 69 cents per gallon that Illinois collects in gas taxes is the third-highest tax total in the country, behind Connecticut (70 cents) and New York (69.1 cents).

Drivers can change their planned routes if they check traffic conditions before leaving, but even then some congested intersections are difficult to avoid.

Here are some of the worst intersections in Chicago to avoid if you want to stay away from traffic backups:

Damen, Elston and Fullerton avenues.
This area is the worst during rush hour, so avoid it then if you can. Changing the lights or lanes is often a method used to improve traffic flow, but at this six-way intersection, major changes are planned. The Chicago Department of Transportation’s planned improvements are for Elston to be realigned to bypass the current intersection and cross Fullerton about one block east of the current intersection.

North Avenue and Sheffield.
This is a major shopping district and one of the oldest, worst intersections in the city. With so many shoppers driving and walking around, there are many red light runners, and pedestrians trying to cross the street by running across before the light changes.

Intersection of 79th Street, Stony Island Avenue and South Chicago Avenue.
This area of the 79th Street crossing is on the South Side of Chicago and regularly appears on lists of the most dangerous intersections in the state of Illinois. The three streets come together under the Chicago Skyway, where red light runners are common. The city uses cameras to take photos of drivers running the light.

Lincoln, Lawrence and Western avenues.
The heavily-trafficked intersection is at the heart of Chicago’s Lincoln Square and Ravenswood neighborhoods on the North Side. Known for its German culture, the area is full of great restaurants and stores that attract traffic.

95th Street and Stony Island.
Traffic exiting the Bishop Ford expressway north on Stoney Island and east and west on 95th make it a horrible intersection worth avoiding. Traffic is often backed up, leaving drivers sitting through several lights before being able to go any direction.

Unfortunately for Chicago drivers, driving on such congested streets is unsafe and highlights the need for Chicago auto insurance, with Chicago metro area drivers in the bottom quarter of 200 American cities, according to an annual safe driving report, as reported by ABC Chicago.

The Chicago metro area rated 157th out of 200 cities in the report released Sept. 1 on areas with the safest drivers, 10 points better than last year’s 167th ranking. The study found that Chicago drivers average an accident every 7.7 years. Nearby cities also ranked poorly, with Naperville ranked 125th, Aurora 112th, and Joliet 96th.

The American city with the safest drivers was Fort Collins, Colo., which was first on the list for the second year in a row. Washington, D.C. ranked last for the third straight year.

About Active Insurance:
Active Insurance Agency has provided low cost auto insurance for drivers in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin for nearly 50 years. Its online car insurance quotes make comparing automobile insurance rates quick and easy. Best of all, no credit score or driver’s license number is needed to get a quote. Active Insurance also won’t ask for your Social Security number, so you can keep your confidential and personal information private. If you need a bond card, Active Insurance Agency has those too.